Lock binder



y 3, 1952 J. J. DONATO ET AL LOCK BINDER Filed April 10. 1950 5 m 0 0 W NN fl x l. Hm PE m. %%J

ATTORNEY minimum.

Patented July 8, 1952 ApplicationApril 10, 1950; Serial No. 154,976

The invention, in general, relates to devices for the retention and safe-keeping. of magazines, newspapers and the like yetpermitting ready. access to the pages thereof forperusal While under retention. More particularly, the inven'tionrelates to a lock binder for'works of the indicated character and constitutes an improvement on the Book Lock Binder, described andclaimed in Letters Patent-No; 2,323,123, granted 'to us on June 29,1943.

A primary object of the present improvementis to provide a lock binder for the above mentioned works which is of relatively 'simple construetion affordin manufacture thereof .at a .niinimum of ;cost and which is usableby the unskilled as readily as any skilled person. I V

Another important object of our present invention is to provide an improved lock binder'of the indicated nature which is additionally character.- ized by its latching and unlatching simplicity.

A still further object of the improvement is to I provide a lock binder of the aforementioned character having aconstruction and 'modeof operation wherein milled parts are obviated and" assembly'and installation times are reduced to a Other-objects of the invention, "together with some of the. advantageous features thereof, will appear from'the following description of a preferred embodiment of our present improvement.

It is to be 'understood, however, that we are not to be limited'to the preciseembodiment'shown, nor to the precise arrangement-of thevarious parts-thereof, as our invention, as defined in the appended claim, can be embodied in a plurality andvarietyofforms.- r

Referring'to the drawings? t v Fig. i -is 'a perspective view, partly in dotted lines'show'ing, of a--preferred embodiment of the present improvement'in operative position retaining a book or'other work with ready access to the pagesthereofp f Fig. 2 is a detail of the latching element'and a fragmentary showing of the clamping bar of the preferred embodiment of the present improve- Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the base of the-preferred embodiment of the invention withintegral complementary latching element andholder'for one of the latching elements of the preferred-embodiment; r

Fig. 4 is a sectional, end elevationalview of the preferred embodiment ofv the present improvement in operative position, this view showing in fragmentary view a portion of the-ret'ained work...

" Fig. was a sectional elevational "ified latching element, together with a fragmen- Fig. 5 is a broken plan view of the preferred embodiment of the invention, this'view being taken on the-line 55 of Fig. 6.

view of a modtary showing of the clamping bar, of the present improvement Fig. 6 is a longitudinal, sectional elevational view in fragmentary showing, of a preferred embodiment of th invention, this view showing'in full lines the position of the clamping bar when 'in operative position and in dotted lines the-p0- sition of the clamping bar when the device is unlocked and the clamp is removed from the work so that the work can be removed from the binder.

- In its preferred form, the lockbinder of our present improvement preferably comprises a base removably attached to a book cover or the like, a clamping bar pivotally supported on said base, a first latching element on said base, together with a second latching element retained on said clampr ing .bar and operatively. associated with said first .latching element for locking a newspaper, a book or':-the like onthe binder for retention thereon,

. As illustrated particularly in Figs.'5 and 6 of the annexed: drawings, we provide in our improved lock binder a relatively long,.flat base I I which conveniently can be formed with a, series of spacedholesl2 therethrough to accommodate suitable screws I3, see Fig. 6 of thedrawings, for removably attaching the binder to the back of a book cover, not shown. In addition, we preferablyformthe base ll of our improved lock binder with. a .relatively.large opening l4 therethrough,

adjacent .tov one extremity thereof so that the binder,'-w itha retained book, magazine or thelike, may be suspended from a wall hook or nail'or the like,.not shown. 'While any suitable material can be employedfor fabricating the base I I, we preferably-i manufacture the base from a suitable, light-weight metal, such as aluminum or a nickelalloy of aluminum. I The base II also is provided with not only a first latching element IE but also 1 with: a bracket I! on which a clamping bar 26 is 45 --for a second latching element 3| which is re- .tained on the outer extremity of the'clamping bar 26. .Preferably, the first latching element [6, the

pivotallymounted, as well as a holder or post- 25 bracketll, withthee'xception of th holesfor a pivot pin on which clamping bar 26 is pivotally mounted; and the holder or post 25 are formed integral with the base H, by means of a shaped die and a'punch press, although :the various parts "just. mentioned can beseparately secured to the is can be welded to the base I at its proper operative position, as shown adjacent to the large opening [4 in base I, the element It including an off-set portion |6b which is elevated from the base H to afford a space between the base and such oif-set portion l6b, as shown in Fig. of the amended drawings. The bracket H can be se cured by means of welding or other securing means, to the base H at its proper operative position adjacent to the oppositeextremity of the base. As particularly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5 of the annexed drawings, the bracket l1 prefer- I ably is formed with oppositely directed wings l8 and I9 serving as seats for a work suspended and retained on the binder, which are directly welded or otherwise secured to the base H and which merge with a central, bifurcated portion 2| defining a space 22 for accommodating not only the mounting of the clamping bar, hereinafter referred to, but also for the swing of such clamping bar from a closed to an open position. Thebifurcated portion 2| of bracket l'l serves as a mounting for a pivot pin 23 which preferably-is riveted in position on the bifurcated portion 2| of the bracket and which pierces the clamping bar adjacent to one extremity thereof.

In accordance with our present invention, we provide a resilient clamping bar 26 for clamping the improved lock binder in operative position between the pages 21 and 28, see Fig. l, of a book 29 insuch manner that the pages 27 and 28 'as well asadditional pages of the book 29 may be turned and be readily accessible to areader ofthe book As above indicated, one end of the clamping bar 26 is pivotally mounted upon. the pivot pin 23 mounted in the bracket l! at one end of the base I and about which pivot pin the clamping bar 26' is swingable. With particular reference to Fig. 6 of the annexed drawings, the closed, operative position of the clamping bar .26 is shown in full lines, while the open position of the clampi'ng bar 26is, illustrated in dotted lines. The extremity'of clamping bar 26 opposite to the pivoted extremity thereof supports a second latching: element 631.: .which is. complementary to. the fixed latching element [6 on base -While the second latching element 3| can take any desired shape or construction, wepreferably employ a construction of this. second. or complementary latching element 3| whichaffords rotationthereof relative to the clamping bar. 25 upon. which it is mounted. To this end, the second or complementary latching element 3| preferably is constructed from cylindrical stock with an enlarged segmental base 32 andan enlarged knurled top 33 to facilitate rotation thereof relative to the'cl'amping bar as well as relative tothe fixed latching element It on base.||. Intermediate *the segmental base 32 and a cylindrical portion 34.01 the formed with a longitudinally extending bore. 38

therethrough for passing the standard or post 25 extending normally from the base and preferably press fittedthereinto. In operation, to place the clamping bar 26 in operative position and the entire binder locked to a book, catalogue, magazine or the like, the operator only has to swing the clamping bar 25 downwardly on its pivot pin 23 with the standard or post 25 of base passing through the bore 38 of the complementary latching element 3| and brought to rest with the base 32 of the latching element 3| seated on the upper surface of the base a In this connection, it is to be observed that the segmental base 32 is formed to a substantially flat disc with a major portion of its periphery in generally circular or arcuate form but containing a relation with respect to the axis of the latching I element 3|. In bringing the clamping bar 26 to its clamping position, care must be observed in having the straight portion 32a of the bas 32 of latching element 3| facing the latchin element N5 of the base ll. Inthus positioningthe base 32 of latching element 3|, the base 32 .will pass the fixed'latching element IS in order to seat the base 32 of the latching element 3| on the upper surface of base After this preliminary operation, the. operator merely rotates the latching element 3 by grasping the knurled top 33thereof to bring the arcuate portion 32b of the base 32 of latching element ;3| underneath the raised portion |6b of the fixed latching element IS on base II. This latching or locked position of the clamping bar in operative positionis illustrated by the dotted line showingof the arcuate portion 32b of bas'e32 of latching 'element3l in Fig. 5 of the drawings and in the sectional view. thereof in Fig.6 of the drawings. To unlock the binder and releasethe clamping bar from the-base H, and enable removal of-the entire binder from a book, magazine, or the like, it is only necessary to grasp the knurled top 33 of the latching element 3| and rotate the same to bringthe, straight edge 32a of our present improvement, therefore, not only can beread-ily installed in -a book or magazine and locked in position but as readily canbe unlocked andremoved therefrom.

In Fig. 5a of the annexed drawings, we haveillustrated a modifiedlatching element3|a which is. so formed as to, pr0Vide,.-in thetop portion thereof a hexagonal socket 40. ,A suitable key, not shown, may be inserted. in the hexagonal socket 40 for giving the latching element 3|a a slight final. turn to lock the circular portion 32b of the disc 32underneath the raised portion |3b of the fixed latchin element .|6. The provision of the hexagonal. socket 40, in the modified latching element 3|a prevents inadvertent". turning of the latching element by,doodlers when reading or inspecting the publicationpr other work retained 'intheholder, and thus loosening of the work in the holder. Moreover, the locking of the latching elements together by turning the latchingelement 3|a prevents appropriation of the workby careless readers of the work held in the lock .binder. An attendantmay be provided with the key, notshown, for unlatching or unlocking the latching'element 3|a to replace the retained work with some other work.

-It.isclear from: the foregoing -that the construction'of our present lock binder not only affords the production thereof at a cost far lower than the production costs of the book lock binder disclosed and claimed in our aforementioned Letters Patent but also afiords a lock binder which can be more readily manipulated as to installation, locking, releasing and removal with respect to any work in connection with which it is em-' ployed. In addition to the elimination of millwork required in the production of the slitted casings 3 of our former binder, we have eliminated the necessity of assembly of relatively small parts which frequently are, lost or misplaced. Moreover, in our present lock binder, the majority of the elements constitute stampings which are relatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble in operative position.

It is to be understood that the appended claim is to be accorded a range of equivalence commensurate in scope with the advanc made over the prior art.

We claim:

A look binder comprising a base, a fixed latching element on said base; said fixed element including a portion elevated from said base and presenting a straight outer edge, a standard on said base in proximity to said fixed latching element, a clamping bar pivotally mounted on said base, and a second latching element rotatably mounted on said bar and rotatable relative to said standard as well as relative to said fixed latching element;

said second latching element having a bore therethrough for passing said standard upon pivoting said bar to adjacent said base, a segmental base on said second latching element including a straight portion and an arcuate portion; said segmental base being off-set with respect to the axis ofsaid second latching element, rotation of said second latching element to one position causing placement of said arcuate portion of said segmental base of said second latching element in underlying relationship to said elevated portion of said fixed latching element to lock the binder in relation to a work, and rotation of said second latching element to a second position causing placement of the straight portion adjacent to'and in parallel relationship with the straight edge of said elevated portion of said fixed latching element whereby the clamping bar can be pivoted away from said base to enable release of the binder from the work.

JOSEPH J. DONATO. FREDERICK L. HARDIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,655,017 Leahy Jan. 3, 1928 1,805,191 Skripkin May 12, 1931 2,323,123 Donato et al June 29, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 38,906 Switzerland 1907 68,883 Switzerland 1914 718,149 France 1931 228,217 Switzerland Nov. 1, 1943 

